Since January, 2010, this blog has been dedicated to year-round coverage of the New York theater scene and, particularly, the annual Tony Awards race. The site features commentary on each production and its chances at nominations or wins, with keen insights into voter trends, leading to expert predictions.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Could Peggy Olson return to Broadway? The answer seems to be yes. Elizabeth Moss, four-time Emmy-nominated star of Mad Men is in negotiations to return to the Great White Way in The Heidi Chronicles. The play, a 1989 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning work by Wendy Wasserstein, is considered to be the playwright's magnum opus. It focuses, in episodic structure, on the title character's ever changing views on politics, feminism, men, and motherhood, as well as her emotional journey from the 1960's through the 1980's. Nothing has been finalized, however, pending other casting and theater availability for the production which is aiming to hit Broadway in late fall, 2015.

Ms. Moss' representatives have made no comment, but Jeffrey Richards, who will be a producer on this production and who produced Ms. Moss' previous Broadway outing (David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow), had this to say about the production: "All I can say is that Elizabeth is a wonderful stage actress and I had the huge privilege of working with her on 'Speed-the-Plow'. And I am riveted by her Peggy on 'Mad Men' and would love to work with her again some day."

Though unconfirmed by anyone involved, Pam MacKinnon -- a 2013 Tony winner for her direction of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which also won the 2013 Tony for Best Revival of a Play -- is being courted to direct the project.

More of the performances we can expect to see on the June 8th Tony Awards ceremony have been announced. In addition to previously reported performances, there will be performances by Neil Patrick Harris and the cast of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Sutton Foster and the cast of Violet, Alan Cumming and the cast of Cabaret, and Idina Menzel, who will perform a song from her current Broadway show, If/Then.

The cast of Wicked, celebrating its 10th anniversary on Broadway, will perform at this year's awards ceremony. Sting will perform a number from his upcoming Broadway bound musical. Also, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Fantasia will perform with the Tony-nominated musical After Midnight.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

The 68th Tony Awards, which will be held on June 8th, 2014, and will be hosted by Hugh Jackman, will begin with a performance from Best Musical nominee After Midnight. That show's performance will include performances from Fantasia Barrino, Patti LaBelle, k.d. Lang, and Gladys Knight. Hugh Jackman may even join in the fun. During the Tony telecast, Sting will perform a number from his upcoming musical, The Last Ship. There will also be performances by Jessie Mueller of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Neil Patrick Harris of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the cast of Aladdin performing the showstopper "Friend Like Me".

Thursday, May 22, 2014

There are two news items that I just came across that I wanted to bring to your attention. The first of them comes with a prediction about a show that I think will come to Broadway, even if the producers don't know it yet. The second is about a production whose producers have stated that they are eyeing Broadway.

Playbill.com has reported that the London revival of Miss Saigon, which opened last night, has already recouped its £4.5 million ($7.6 million) initial investment. Producer Cameron Macintosh said in a press release, "The show's budget was £4.5 million -- which is not a huge amount. I didn't need to spend more than that and I think it looks every penny. We have recouped already." This production set a record for single-day ticket sales, making Broadway and West End history, when tickets went on sale in September. This makes it all the more likely that the production will transfer to Broadway at some point in 2015.

In other news, Broadway.com has published an article saying that James Corden, who won a Leading Actor in a Play Tony in 2012 for One Man, Two Guvnors, is in talks to return to Broadway. Corden could return to Broadway in a revival of the Bert Shevelove / Larry Gelbart / Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum under the direction of Tony-nominee Alex Timbers. The production is hoping to open on the Main Stem in the spring of 2015.

Sophie Okonedo, the British film actress probably best known in this country for her Oscar-nominated turn in Hotel Rwanda in 2004, made her Broadway debut earlier this season in the highly acclaimed revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Having starred in several theatrical and made-for-TV movies, Playbill.com interviewed Okonedo about her transition to the Broadway stage, revealing a past on the British stage, a love of Broadway, and her reactions to the awards buzz. Check out the interview here.

Theater Mania posted this interview with Beowulf Boritt, who is Tony nominated this year for his set design of Lincoln Center's production of Act One at the Vivian Beaumont. He talks about trends in theatrical set design (three of the four Tony nominated scenic designs for plays have turntables) to the sheer magnitude of this set (a 65-foot diameter turntable costing roughly $500,000). Check it out!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The producers of The Realistic Joneses announced today that the show will be closing on July 6th. Though never officially planned as a limited run, the show had only been selling tickets through July 6th, and had probably been hoping to extend beyond that date with the help of some Tony momentum. When the Tony nominating committee entirely overlooked the show, which seems to have been selling steadily, I guess they decided not to push their luck.

I just came across a neat video that shows the installation of the Tony-nominated set for the Tony-nominated play Act One. Check it out and comment below with your thoughts and questions about what goes into such an endeavor.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Patti LuPone will be returning to the Broadway stage for a one night only concert staging of The Cradle Will Rock. The production will play the Bernard Jacobs Theatre tonight, May 19th, at 7pm, and will be produced by The Acting Company. LuPone will be reprising the role that brought her the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. LuPone will be joined on stage by Josh Johnston and Johann Carlo, her son and her cousin respectively. Lonny Price will direct the concert. For further information, check out this press release from Playbill.com.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

With the OCC Award winners being announced earlier this week, along with the New York Times' Tony section printed this past Sunday (including Ben Brantley's and Charles Isherwood's respective Tony predictions), I thought it was time to update my set of predictions. And, with that, here goes nothing.

Best Play
Will Win: Act One
Should Win: Act One
Dark Horse: All the Way

Best Musical
Will Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Dark Horse: Beautiful

Best Book of a Musical:
Will Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Dark Horse: Beautiful

Best Score
Will Win: Bridges of Madison County
Should Win: Bridges of Madison County
Dark Horse: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

Best Revival of a Play
Will Win: 12th Night
Should Win: Glass Menagerie
Dark Horse: Glass Menagerie

Best Revival of a Musical
Will Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Should Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Dark Horse: Violet

Edward Albee's play A Delicate Balance, which won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has been announced as Tony-winning director Pam McKinnon's next Broadway-bound project. The show will star Tony-winners john Lithgow, Glenn Close, and Lindsay Duncan, along with Tony-nominee Martha Plimpton, Bob Balaban, and Olivier winner Clare Higgins. The show will play an 18-week run at the Golden Theatre starting in October, with a November 20th opening.

The show follows a long-married couple, Tobias and Agnes (Lithgow and Close), who have a whirlwind of a weekend when their 36-year old daughter (Plimpton) comes home after her fourth divorce while they nurse (or tolerate) Agnes' alcoholic sister (Duncan), and shelter their friends (Balaban and Higgins).

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The London revival of Cameron Mackentosh's Miss Saigon may or may not transfer to Broadway next year. The transfer would be dependent, of course, on a few factors -- strong reviews and ticket sales for the current London revival as well as an appropriate theater becoming available in New York. The London production opens on May 21st.

The other transfer news is a transfer of a different type -- a transfer from stage to screen. This morning, Playbill.com announced that a film adaptation of Harvey Fierstein's Tony-nominated new play Casa Valentina is under discussion. Among the things being discussed is whether the film will be made for cable or the big screen has yet to be determined. The play was written by four-time Tony-winner Harvey Fierstein in a Manhattan Theatre Club production directed by Joe Mantello.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The Roundabout has set dates for an upcoming revival of the musical On the Twentieth Century. As previously buzzed about, Tony- and Emmy-winner Kristin Chenoweth will star in the production as Lily Garland -- a role made famous by Carole Lumbard in the 1934 movie. Co-starring with Chenowith will be Peter Gallagher as Oscar Jaffe. The musical is based on a 1934 film, The Twentieth Century, which starred John Barrymore and Carole Lombard as Oscar Jaffe and Lily Garland. The plot revolves around a movie producer (Jaffe) who wants to bring former lover and star Lily Garland back to Hollywood for one last movie, but can't -- she's on the Twentieth Century, a train taking her back to New York to do Broadway.

Previews will begin at the Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre on February 12th in anticipation of a March 12th opening night. The production will be directed by six-time Tony-nominee Scott Ellis with Choreography by Warren Carlyle, a two-time 2014 Tony nominee for After Midnight. The production seems to replace a previously announced revival of Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off which was set to play the American Airlines Theatre starting in January 2015.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Last night, the Outer Critics Circle Awards winners were announced this morning in anticipation of a gala to be held on May 22nd at Sardi's, hosted by Tony-winner Billy Porter. The OCC Awards honor theatrical achievements both on Broadway and off-Broadway and are given out by critics who write for non-New York based media outlets and publications. This year's winners are listed below. For a full list of nominees, click here. In each category, Broadway shows compete with off-Broadway shows for the same award unless specifically noted otherwise.

Outstanding New Broadway Play -- All the Way
Outstanding New Broadway Musical -- A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play -- The Explorer's Club
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical -- Fun Home
Outstanding Book of a Musical -- A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Outstanding New Score -- The Bridges of Madison County
Outstanding Revival of a Play -- The Glass Menagerie
Outstanding Revival of a Musical -- Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Outstanding Director of a Play -- Tim Carroll, 12th Night
Outstanding Director of a Musical -- Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Outstanding Choreographer -- Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) -- Christopher Barreca, Rocky
Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) -- William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway
Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) -- Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Outstanding Actor in a Play -- Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Outstanding Actress in a Play -- Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie
Outstanding Actor in a Musical -- Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Outstanding Actress in a Musical -- Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play -- Brian J. Smith, The Glass Menagerie
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play -- Andrea Martin, Act One and Mare Winningham, Casa Valentina
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical -- Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical -- Marin Mazzie, Bullets Over Broadway
Outstanding Solo Performance -- John Douglas Thompson, Satchmo at the Waldorf

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Roman Polanski (Surprise, Surprise!) has made the film adaptation of David Ives' play Venus in Fur -- the play that turned Nina Arianda into a star and a Tony winning actress. Broadway.com has posted to their site the poster and a trailer for the film adaptation which will be released stateside on June 20th. The film stars Mathieu Amalric and Emanuelle Seigner (Polanski's wife, no less!) in the roles played by Hugh Dancy and Nina Arianda on Broadway. Here's how the film is being touted: "The film tells the story of an obnoxious actress who tries to convince an acclaimed director that she's the leading lady to star in his newest play."

Friday, May 9, 2014

Two productions have been announced for the fall -- a revival of an old chestnut and a new play by a Tony-nominated playwright.

The first production is a revival of the classic musical On the Town, in what is being touted as the show's 70th anniversary revival. The historic comedy was written and created by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jerome Robbins. This production will be directed by John Rando, a Tony winner for Urinetown, with a design team that includes set designer Beowulf Boritt and costume designer Jess Goldstein. The show will begin previews on September 20th with an October 16th opening night and will play at the newly christened Lyric Theatre. The Lyric is a relatively new Broadway theater. Constructed in 1998, the house combines the former Lyric and Apollo theaters and the venue has hosted such productions as the original productions of Ragtime and Young Frankenstein. The new Lyric Theatre has 1,930 seats, making it the second largest theater on Broadway after the Gershwin.

This fall will also see the return to Broadway of Tony-nominated playwright Jez Butterworth. He will be represented on Broadway with a new play called The River, which will star Tony winner and Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman. The play will run from late October through next January at the Circle in the Square Theatre, the current home of Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. The production will be directed by Ian Rickson, who also directed Mr. Butterworth's previous Broadway outing, Jerusalem, as well as the 2009 revival of Hedda Gabler and the 2008 staging of The Seagull. Mr. Jackman's co-stars will be Laura Donnelly and Cush Jumbo.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Two stories came across my desk today about productions that will now be available to wider audiences, one through a Broadway transfer and another through broadcast on PBS.

Plans have been announced for a Broadway transfer of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize nominated musical Fun Home. The musical, with a score by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, is adapted from the graphic memoir by Alison Bedchel. The production had its premier at the Public Theatre and is aiming to arrive on Broadway next spring. According to this article on Playbill.com, the show will have a budget between $5 million and $6 million.

In other exciting news, the New York Philharmonic production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd will air nationally on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS stations on September 26th at 9pm. This production of the Tony-winning 1979 musical starred 5 time Tony winner Audra McDonald as the Beggar Woman, Oscar-winner Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett, and famed opera singer Bryn Terfel as the titular character. Audra McDonald will host the event.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Tony's are about a month away (32 days, to be exact) and it's time I put up my first round of Tony predictions. As usual, I'm putting my guess as to who WILL win, who SHOULD win, and who I believe to be the dark horse in the category.

Best Play
Will Win: Act One
Should Win: Mothers and Sons
Dark Horse: Outside Mullingar

Best Musical
Will Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Dark Horse: Aladdin

Best Book of a Musical
Will Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: Beautiful
Dark Horse: BeautifulBest Score
Will Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: Bridges of Madison County
Dark Horse: Aladdin

Best Revival of a Musical
Will Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Should Win: Violet
Dark Horse: Violet

Best Revival of a Play
Will Win: 12th Night
Should Win: Glass Menagerie
Dark Horse: Glass Menagerie
The Cripple of Inishmaan

Best Actor in a Play
Will Win: Bryan Cranston
Should Win: Samuel Barnett
Dark Horse: Chris O'Dowd

Best Actress in a Play
Will Win: Tyne Daly
Should Win: Cherry Jones
Dark Horse: Estelle ParsonsBest Featured Actor in a Musical
Will Win: Nick Cordero
Should Win: Danny Burstein
Dark Horse: Danny BursteinBest Featured Actress in a Musical
Will Win: Linda Emond
Should Win: Linda Emond
Dark Horse: Anika LarsenBest Featured Actor in a Play
Will Win: Mark Rylance
Should Win: Reed Birney
Dark Horse: Reed BirneyBest Featured Actress in a Play
Will Win: Celia Keenan-Bolger
Should Win: Celia Keenan-Bolger
Dark Horse: Mare WinninghamBest Director of a Musical
Will Win: Warren Carlyle
Should Win: Darko Tresnjak
Dark Horse: Leigh SilvermanBest Director of a Play
Will Win: John Tiffany
Should Win: John Tiffany
Dark Horse: Tim Carroll

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

It has been announced that Clint Eastwood's movie adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway smash Jersey Boys will have its premier at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 19th. It will be the concluding presentation of the festival. The film will then be released nationwide on June 20th. The cast of the film includes John Lloyd Young as Franki Valli, a role for which he won the Best Actor in a Musical Tony in 2006, as well as Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, and Vincent Piazza as the other three members of The Four Seasons. The screenplay is written by Oscar-, Emmy-, and Golden Globe-nominee John Logan (The Aviator, Gladiator, Hugo, RKO 281) based on the show's book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and the films dances will be choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, repeating the duties he performed on the original Broadway production.

Monday, May 5, 2014

The 2014 winner of the Regional Theater Tony Award is New York's own Signature Theatre. This award is presented annually by the Tony Awards Administration Committee on the recommendation of the American Theater Critics Association and includes a grant of $25,000. One of the objects of the award is to honor and promote incubators of new plays and productions. So far, no organization has won twice, and this is the first year in which New York theater companies have been eligible. Past winners include The Arena Stage in Washington, DC, The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, The Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Connecticut, and both the Goodman Theatre and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. For a full list of past winners, click here.

For more information about the Signature Theatre Company, check out their website and check out the Tony Awards' website for more on their decision to award this year's non-competitive Regional Theater Award to them.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

After the announcement this past Tuesday of the 2014 Tony nominations, everyone began buzzing about the number of nominees in each of the four Best Show categories (Best Play, Best Musical, Best Revival of a Play, and Best Revival of a Musical). Why were there five nominees for Best Play but only four each for Best Musical and Best Revival of a Play? And, if there were four eligible shows for four nomination slots in the Best Revival of a Musical category, why was it not a slam dunk that they'd all get nominated automatically? Well, I have found the answer, thanks to Playbill.com.

The nominations appear to be determined by a mathematical formula, rather than a . According to rules which the nominating committee must follow, "When there are nine or more eligible shows in a Best Show category, at the Tony Nominating Meeting, the Nominating Committee will be instructed to cast one vote each for four eligible shows as nominees on his/her secret ballot. Such ballots shall be collected and tabulated by a representative of the Accounting Firm." With twelve new musicals, ten new plays, and fifteen play revivals this season, there were definitely enough to put this rule into effect for all but the revival of a musical category.

Once the votes are tabulated according to the rules above, the four shows with the most votes automatically become the nominees. If the fifth-place show (the show with the fifth-highest vote count) is three votes or fewer away from the fourth place contender, then and only then is there a fifth nominee in the category. This way, in a season with not many new plays or musicals, the committee is not obligated to inflate the slate out to 5 nominees, but in a crowded year like this one -- with several contenders in a tight race -- a fifth nominee can enter the race in a contentious year. What does this mean for the 2014 nominees? It means that the Best Play race was a tight one -- the fourth- and fifth-most voted for plays amongst the committee were within three votes of each other. But in the Best Musical and Best Revival of a Play categories, the competition was not that steep -- only the top four got in because nothing else was close enough to sneak into that fifth spot.

There is an entirely different rule, however, that caused there to be only three nominees in the Best Revival of a Musical category. That rule states, "When there are five or fewer shows eligible in a Best Show category, at the Tony Nominating Meeting, the Nominating Committee will be instructed to cast one vote each for thee eligible shows as nominees on his/her ballot." The result here would be that the top three vote getters would automatically become nominees, and there would only be a fourth nominee if the fourth-place vote getter was within three votes of the third place one.

Now that we've gotten that clarified, I'm going to go back to the grind and work on my first round of predictions on who will WIN the Tony's this year.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Broadway.com has come up with a wonderful set of statistics about this year's Tony nominations that was so wonderful that I had to share it with you all.

A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder received 10 nominations -- the most of any show this year.

21 of this year's acting nominees received their first nomination this year, including Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris O'Dowd, and Sophie Okonedo.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill star Audra McDonald has now been officially nominated for eight Tony Awards, though Julie Harris is still the record holder for the most nominations, with 10.

Ms. McDonald is also the fifth person in history to have been nominated in all four performance categories in which she is eligible (no one has been eligible in all eight categories due to the gender split). Audra is in good company with Raul Esparza, Boyd Gaines, Jan Maxwell, and Angela Lansbury.

Mark Rylance was a double nominee this season for the repertory productions of 12th Night and Richard III. He is only the fifth person, and first man, to receive this distinction. The others are Amanda Plummer, Dana Ivey, Kate Burton, and Jan Maxwell.

Nine people who have previously won Tony Awards for acting have a shot at a second win, including Jefferson Mays, Anika Noni Rose, Adriane Lenox and Idina Menzel. Cherry Jones and Sutton Foster could win their third awards this year.

Two actors, Danny Burstein and Tony Shalhoub, are repeat nominees from 2013.

Three Tony-nominated revivals had their first Broadway productions this year -- Violet, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Most interestingly, the 2013 production of The Glass Menagerie -- which received seven 2014 Tony nominations -- is the first Broadway production of the show to receive ANY Tony nominations. None of the previous productions of this show have ever been nominated in any category.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

As often happens after the Tony nominations are released, two shows have already become casualties to the decisions of the nominating committee.

The Velocity of Autumn, which was only nominated for Estelle Parson's leading performance, will close this Sunday, May 4th.

The Bridges of Madison County, which was nominated for Jason Robert Brown's score and orchestrations, Kelli O'Hara's leading performance, and Donald Holder's lighting design, failed to receive crucial nominations for Best Musical and for Marsha Norman's book. The show will be closing on May 18th.